So yeah, voices in my head convinced me to take BC halibut, crust it in ground up wasabi peas and fry it… The results were majestic: Read More
Listen Up Cooks! Five Podcasts About Food
I get up every day at 8:00 sharp. Do all the dishes my past-self thoughtlessly left in the sink, shower, take the dog out, prep my uniform for a day’s abasement, and walk 45 minutes to work. I walk down footpaths, through forests, past people’s backyard gardens. It’s not all concrete, there are trees and birds and sometimes bears and things… it’s nice. But, sometimes it can be a little boring.
Enter podcasts. The perfect way to fill my head with interesting news, fun-facts, tunes, humour and talk talk talk talk… All while I hike my way to work. I love podcasts of all types, and subscribe to many: Music, history, science, comics, etc. Each created and curated by a person (or persons) with mad passion for something. Now, I work in a kitchen, and cook at home, and write about cooking on this blog, so it’s not far off to say I’m obsessed with food. As it turns out, so are many, many other people (How many food blogs out there? Thousands?) and some of those people have access to a microphone and an iTunes account. Read More
Kale Top Salad with Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette
It’s May, and that means the local farmer’s market is back with a vegetable vengeance. This year there really seems to be more farmers in attendance, and I returned home with bags of fresh produce (Chard leaves the size of your head!), and armfuls of starters for my garden (The tomato man was there, whoot!!!) One of the most interesting edibles that I scored was a bag of bright purple kale tops.
Picked during the spring from the tops of over-wintering brassicas, these little bundles of buds are amazingly tender and subtlety flavoured. The perfect foundation for an early-summer tossed salad. This recipe is a classic menagerie of very friendly veg, all balancing the bitterness of everyone’s favourite super-green. Read More
Zakkushi and Miku (Vancouver, BC)
A couple of months back, my chef and mentor Hiro loaded my co-workers Yuki, Azusa, and myself into the Wasabiya-mobile and swept us away to Vancouver for a bite at two of the city’s Canadian-Japanese hotspots. The first was Denman Street’s Zakkushi, and the second was Miku Restaurant located on West Hastings St. (although, now they’re in the process of moving to a waterfront location)
These two joints share a couple of remarkable things in common. Both started with a single location and conceptual vision (one owner or chef, one concept). Both became a hit and opened multiple incarnations in and around Vancouver. Both serve Japanese cuisine to the hungry Van public, albeit in very different styles, neighborhoods and price ranges… And both kitchens are full of people who want to yell at you. Read More
Basho quote
“Wrapping dumplings in
bamboo leaves, with one finger
she tidies her hair.”
– Matsuo Basho